


Brothers Grimm

by Doctor_Discord



Series: Dad AU [4]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Parents, Blood and Injury, Car Accidents, Child Death, Cute, Denial, Foster Care, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Head Injury, Hemophilia, Hurt No Comfort, I'm Sorry, In the Beginning, Major Character Injury, Permanent Injury, Pure, Sad Ending, This Starts Out Fun and Goes Real Down Hill, dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 13:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20546744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doctor_Discord/pseuds/Doctor_Discord
Summary: This is the story of how Dark and Wilford began fostering the Host and the Author.It is also the story of how one was lost and the other was broken.





	1. Chapter 1

Dark tapped his foot anxiously in the waiting room of the foster agency, squeezing Wil's hand tightly. _Anxiety _clawed at every corner of his mind. They were taking _forever _to get the paperwork sorted, he'd left the Jims and King home with Wil's brother Mark taking caring of them, and between the wait and the fact he'd left three two-year-olds with a man he _did not like_ was _seriously _freaking him out. He groaned, squeezing Wil's hand again as he shifted to rest his head on Wil's shoulder. Wil chuckled, pressing a kiss to whatever he could reach of Dark's head. "Calm down, love. It's all gonna be fine. We've done this before!"

Dark grumbled, squirming a bit like an impatient child. "Yeah, _once_. With _one _kid. What if they don't like us? What if they just _hate _us on sight?"

"Dark. They're a year and a half old. They can't hate _anything _yet."

"_Okay_, but -"

Just then, the door opened, and Dark's head shot up, squeezing Wil's hand so tightly it undoubtedly hurt, but his husband didn't give any indication. The woman who appeared smiled, gesturing for them to follow her. They were the only ones in the waiting room, after all, early on a Thursday morning. Dark scrambled to his feet, dragging Wil behind him as they followed the woman. She led them to a nursery, of sorts. At least a dozen kids were scattered about the room, playing or sleeping, with a couple of adults watching over them. The woman led them through the room, to a pair playing in the corner. Well, one was playing, with wooden blocks he was clapping together happily with a bright smile. The other was sleeping nearby, making small, babbling noises in his sleep. 

Dark's heart promptly _melted, _and he fell in love _instantly_.

"Yes." The woman gave him a bewildered look. Dark didn't care, tears already in his eyes. "Yes, we'll take them, _Wil_ _look at them_, we'll have two sets of twins!"

Wil laughed, kissing Dark's hand. The woman shook her head fondly, heading back for the door. "I'll go get all the paperwork ready for you two to sign. In the meantime, you can hang out here, get to know them." She smiled. "I'll come and get you again when it's ready."

Dark nodded, at last letting go of Wil's hand, and he sat on the floor. He gingerly lifted the sleeping infant into his arms, almost bursting into sobs there and then when he curled into his chest. He was wearing a pale yellow onsie, an odd blond streak in his hair. Dark flashed a _beaming _smile, holding him up so he could press a kiss to his forehead. "Hey." He sniffed, voice soft and only a _little _choked up. "You must be the Host." He glanced at the other infant, now bouncing away in Wil's lap and giggling to himself. Dark could've _sworn_ his eyes were _golden _when they caught the light. "And you must be the Author."

He burst into giggles when the Author glanced up, smiling widely and laughing, and promptly tugged on Wil's mustache. Wil reared back, blinking, and that only made Dark laugh harder, trying _desperately _not to wake the sleeping Host while the Author clapped his hands. He reached forward, picking up his blocks again and banged them together, clearly delighting in the noise it made. He glanced up at Wilford, setting one block down, and grabbed Wil's finger. Wil let him pull out his hand, and the Author placed his block in Wil's palm, then repeated the process with Wil's other hand. He then started clapping Wil's hands together, absolutely _delighting _in it if his laughter was anything to go by. 

Dark and Wil exchanged glances, _beaming _at each other. The Host babbled again in his sleep, and Dark's attention quickly turned back to him. He closed his eyes, holding the Host up to press their foreheads together.

Five minutes, and already his heart was stolen for the fifth and sixth time.


	2. Chapter 2

A month later, Wilford wandered into the living area from the kitchen, his phone in hand and making a grocery list. "We're out of milk, cereal, _and _cotton candy. I'm gonna head to the grocery store."

Dark hummed as Wilford pressed a kiss to his forehead, King fast asleep in his lap. "Take the twins with you. It'll be good for them to get out of the house, see the world."

Wilford chuckled, glancing at the two sets of twins playing on the floor. "Which twins? The troublemakers or the dynamic duo?"

Dark laughed. "Duo." He pulled Wilford into a proper kiss before Wilford bent down to scoop both toddlers into his arms. "Be careful, Wil."

Wilford shot him a smile, one child in each arm. "I know, Dark. I'll be careful."

Dark hummed again, locking eyes with Wilford. "I love you." He smiled, now focused on the twins in his husband's arms. "And I love _you _two, too!"

Wilford chuckled, pressing a kiss to the side of the Host's head. "I love you too, Dark. I'll see you soon."

He headed out to the car, buckling, the kids into their car seats, triple-checking they were secure before pulling out of the driveway. The drive to the store went smoothly enough, the Author repeating the words 'car' and 'drive' over and over in his tiny voice while the Host was simply content to stare out the window without a word. Wilford was unable to stop smiling, constantly checking on them in the rearview mirror. Only a month in their care, and Dark and Wilford were already planning on adopting the pair, just as they had done with King.

They got to the grocery store easily enough, and Wilford placed them both in a shopping cart with a racing car seat for them, the Author absolutely _delighting _in the wheel of the car seat while the Host occupied himself with grabbing _everything _off the shelves the second he got close enough to snatch it. On more than one occasion, Wilford would glance down to see the Host chewing on a can of something or other, smiling up and Wilford and giggling to himself. Wilford's heart melted into a puddle every time the Host smiled. His eyes would crinkle up, and his chubby cheeks made it look like he was squinting up at him. Wilford couldn't help but snap pictures with his phone as the Author spun the wheel _wildly _in the background.

They turned down the candy aisle, Wilford looking for the containers of cotton candy he tended to hoard. With the new twins, he hadn't found time to get more, until he ran out. His eyes lit up when he found it, and he grabbed five containers, piling them into the cart. When he glanced back at the twins, he burst into laughter at the sight of the Host attempting to reach past the Author, making grabby hands at a bag of Jumbo marshmallows and making small noises. In a split-second decision (because frankly Wilford didn't have the best impulse control when it came to sugar), Wilford grabbed the bag and placed it in the cart. Both the Host and the Author _beamed _at him with those chubby cheeks, and it took all of Wilford's willpower not to add two more bags.

The cashier _fawned _over the twins as Wilford checked out, much to the obvious delight of the Author. The Host squirmed a bit under the attention, though he latched onto the cashier's finger and almost refused to let go, waving her hand about. Wilford had to tickle him to get him to let go, and the Host burst into adorable giggles, hands flapping. Wilford rolled the shopping cart back to the car, loaded up the trunk, buckled the kids in, and - after a very nice lady with two kids of her own offered to take his shopping cart - slid into the driver's seat. He tore open the bag of marshmallows, giving one each to the Host and the Author before popping one in his own mouth and started on his way home.

Wilford hummed under his breath as he drove, slowly devouring the marshmallows between the three of them. His humming cut off into a disappointed noise as he pulled up to a red light. He popped another marshmallow into his mouth, checking in his rearview mirror. The Host was still nibbling on one, and the Author was _wearing _more marshmallow than he ate, picking at and eating the sticky substance covering his hands and face. Wilford smiled, and drove forward as the light turned green, humming once more.

The chorus of several honking cars reached his ears, and Wilford straightened in his seat, glancing around. He almost choked when he spotted the car speeding down the road, clearly intending to blow straight through the red light. Wilford floored the gas, his heart beating in his throat as one or both of the kids began to cry at the horrible noise.

There was a sickening _crunch! _and the car jolted, wheels skidding across the asphalt. Wilford gasped, the air bag impacted with his face, and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Wilford awoke with a groan, his ears ringing, his head pounding. He could feel something wet dripping down his face.He screwed his eyes shut, panting and clutching his head as he forced himself to sit upright. As the ringing slowly faded, Wilford became aware of _other _sounds, of the _screaming _sobs behind him. His mind snapped to attention with a gasp, forcing his protesting, aching body to do the same as he turned in his seat. His eyes widened with horror, and he let out a broken sob, covering his mouth.

The Host was the one screaming, bleeding from numerous little cuts all over his body from the spray of shattering glass. But the worst was his _face_. Glass had lodged itself in his cheeks, his chin, his forehead...and his _eyes_. Bloody tears streamed down his face as he screamed and cried, hands curled into tiny fists. The Author...wasn't moving. He wasn't screaming, he wasn't crying, even though Wilford could _see _him bleeding from the glass as well. He was...limp, in his car seat, his head hanging at an angle Wilford couldn't stomach looking at. Wilford couldn't see his face, but _God _he prayed that the Author's eyes were closed, that he was just unconscious, that he was _okay_. But...a small,_ tiny _corner of his brain knew it wasn't true. The Author was sitting behind the passenger seat, that side of the car got the brunt of the impact, he could _see _the crumbled and warped metal of the door and frame, and -

He could hear sirens now, too. Distantly, like they were at the far end of a tunnel. Tears poured down his cheeks, mixing with the blood he could feel on his face, unable to tear his eyes away from the Author and the Host's face. His car door was opened with a horrible grating noise of metal on metal, and suddenly every sound, feeling, _everything _was snapped into focus, loud and overwhelming and _unbearable_. Wilford was in pain, he could feel it now, there was a deep, throbbing _ache _in his head, and he couldn't move one of his legs. He didn't care. People were helping him out of the car, but Wilford fought, uncaring of his pain, _reaching _for his kids. "No -" His words were barely understandable, thick with sobs and emotion and growing louder. "No NO _NO! LET GO OF ME! MY KIDS - GET MY KIDS FIRST, HE'S - LET GO OF ME PLEASE SAVE HIM I CAN'T -"  
_

He dissolved into nothing but sobs as he was laid on a gurney, still fighting all the way, though weakly. He perked up slightly when he heard another voice, turning his head. His vision swam, blurry with tears, but he'd recognize that voice anywhere. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, THAT IS MY _HUSBAND! _FUCKING _LET GO!_" And then there were hands cupping his cheeks, brushing his hair from his eyes, and a kiss was being pressed to his forehead. "Wil! Wil, I-I-I came as soon as I heard, oh _God_, are you alright?"

Wilford shook his head, clumsily reaching for Dark's head. "Dark - Dark, the-the kids - they -_please_ -" The Host was still screaming, Wilford could hear him, as the paramedics attempted to pry open the warped doors. "Dark _please_ -"

Dark nodded, pressing another kiss to his forehead. At the same time, there was the horrible sound of metal against metal again as they got the car door open. Dark was off like a shot, and Wilford fought the paramedics, tumbling off the gurney and limping back to the car. They were pulling the Host out of the car, handing him to Dark. Dark held the Host gently, soothing him as much as he could. The Host was calming down, but he was _still bleeding_, something was wrong, cuts that small shouldn't still be bleeding -

And then they pulled out the Author.

They rushed him to the ambulance, quickly followed by Dark still carrying the Host and the limping Wilford. Wilford watched, breathing caught in his throat, dread pooling in his stomach, as they tried to resuscitate him. They tried for what felt like _hours_, trying to get him to _breathe_, but eventually...they all back off. _Giving up_.

Dark screamed.

Wilford could hear Dark screaming, _begging _for them to keep trying, threatening every horrible thing he could think of, but...it was too late. The Author was gone. And Wilford collapsed, numb to all pain, even as his eyes rolled back with agony from standing on a broken leg for so long. The Host was no longer crying, and Wilford could hear the paramedics urging Dark to let them rush him to the hospital to remove the glass from his eyes.

Wilford burst into tiny sobs as he was laid back on the gurney, calling weakly Dark's name, one hand flailing slightly. Someone took his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

And finally, Wilford passed out. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am...so sorry. I love this AU to death, it's some of the purest shit I've ever written, but it can't _all_ be fluff. As painful as this was, I hope you guys liked it! I'll _definitely_ write much more Dad AU fluff after this, when I have the time, don't worry.


End file.
